Watch for kids, leaves, ice as weather turns cold
Every season presents special challenges to drivers, but autumn stands apart be-cause it forces us to reacquaint ourselves with hazards that have been blissfully out of mind for many months, like ice and ex-tended hours of darkness. Experts unanimously recommend that drivers slow down. Driving on ice is never easy, but they agree you will be safer if your tires have good tread and are properly inflated. Making sure your head-lights are correctly aligned and clear will make you safer in the dark.
Todd Dekker, service adviser for MER-CEDES-BENZ MILWAUKEE NORTH in Glendale, says you may not have to worry about headlight alignment if your vehicle has adaptive lamps that react to all kinds of conditions. "They auto-correct every time you turn the vehicle on," he said. "They go up, down, left right. It's like a light show." That technology is becoming more com mon, but if your vehicle doesn't have it, you can request to have the alignment checked during routine maintenance, such as oil changes. Service techs also will clean and de-fog lenses for you, but Dekker notes that you can do it yourself with fairly inexpensive and easy-to-use lens polishing products at many dealerships and aftermarket stores. The one thing you want to avoid, he said, is using an abrasive product that's not in-tended for use on headlamps. If they're scratched up, they may have to be replaced. The responsibility for dealing with another special autumn hazard — kids playing in leaves raked into gutters or driveways —falls squarely with drivers. "A pile of leaves raked to the side of the road is an inviting place to a child," says Safety. Love to Know blog contributor Terry Hurley. "Children enjoy jumping into the leaf piles or burrowing into them and hid-ing. Never drive through a leaf pile." Sadly, stories about children being run over are not mere urban legends associ-ated with fall and Halloween. While such cases are rare, news reports indicate particularly heartbreaking incidents occur at least every few years.
Other tips for fall driving safety: • Make sure your headlights are on at all times of day. • Remove leaves that are trapped under the wipers and scrape frost from all glass before you drive. • Use caution around turns, especially where children play or walk to and from school. • Be alert for bicyclists and pedestrians at dawn and dusk. • Drive defensively during trick-or-treat hours. • Keep in mind that, according to the federal National Highways Traffic Safety Administration, drunken driving spikes on Halloween and the weekend before.